FIFA have made a decision over grappling at corners after Arsenal were accused of “cheating” during their 2-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday evening. The Gunners took a significant step towards their first Premier League title in over two decades, but with all three goals in their latest victory coming from dead-ball situations, a number of high-profile figures in the game have bemoaned their playing style.
Yaya Toure was among the first to voice his frustration at how often Mikel Arteta’s side rely on corners to win, while John Obi Mikel has since gone as far as to call them “cheats” over the amount of wrestling in the box each time Arsenal were allowed to pump the ball into the danger area. The latter launched into a passionate rant on the latest episode of his podcast, raging (watch the full segment below):
"They did win the game, but they were awful to watch. They were horrible to watch. There was no creativity in the team, they are cheating, are you telling me them corner kicks are legal? Are you telling me Declan Rice grabbing Joao Pedro like this [is legal]?
"Again, it comes down to the officials. What is allowed and what is not? Every season, they come up with this long rulebook, but it goes out of the window after 3-4 games. When I watched that game, the corners, the free-kicks, it was chaos, it's a nightmare, it's illegal. You can't allow that to keep happening!"
Liverpool manager Arne Slot said the Premier League is no longer a “joy to watch” because of the situation surrounding corners, and the league’s lawmakers have now responded to this week’s debate, as England’s top flight continues to appear to edge closer to the rough and tumble of yesteryear rather than progress towards its modern state as an entertainment industry.
Premier League Set-Piece Goals (2025-2026) Related
Premier League Set-Piece Goals Tracker for 2025/2026 Season
Set-pieces have never been as important as they are now.
FIFA and IFAB React to Growing Discontent Over Grappling at Corners
Jurrien Timber wheels away after scoring in Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
Premier League leaders Arsenal have scored 16 goals direct from corners this season - a sequence which equals the all-time Premier League record - and Arteta's team have been criticised for their physical approach when attacking corners.
But following an IFAB summit in Cardiff at the weekend, when new measures designed to reduce time-wasting around throw-ins and goalkicks were confirmed, the issues of physical issues at corners was not deemed to be serious enough to address. Scottish FA CEO and IFAB member Ian Maxwell said, as per ESPN:
"It wasn't something that we specifically talked about. Whether there's been a change in that type of behaviour during matches, those things happen over the course of a season, but I'm not sure it's necessarily getting worse."
With the laws of the game stating that the ball is not in play until a set-piece has been taken, referees are unable to give a foul unless the game is active. But despite that technicality in the rulebook, Maxwell said that officials are still able to act within the laws once the ball is in play.
"It's obviously in the protocol because it would effectively be a penalty potentially if there's grappling at a corner," Maxwell said. "So within the current protocol, that can be assessed."
Set-Pieces Are Back in Vogue, and It’s Killing Premier League Excitement
Mikel Arteta
Arsenal may have set the tone for this season, turning the Premier League into a bit of an NFL-style, stop-start affair, but it wasn’t Arteta who told everyone to follow suit. Now even Liverpool are joining in, with their 5-2 win over West Ham - on the same weekend Arsenal were criticised for scoring from corners - seeing the reigning champions net three goals from set pieces themselves.
At the time of writing, 27.5% of all goals scored in the league this season have come from non-penalty set pieces - the second-highest rate since the 2009/10 campaign, when Tony Pulis was spearheading the long-throw revolution with Stoke City. The stats underline that while Arsenal may be the masters of the dark craft, the rest of the division is increasingly following their blueprint, turning dead-ball situations into a decisive weapon and reshaping the Premier League for the worst.
But with FIFA and other governing bodies currently having no plans to address the issues that are driving some viewers away, it seems as though this tactical change could be here to stay for a while.